First, I am sorry to see so many other people having the same issue that I do. In March of 07, my service with Directv started. In July of 07 I moved from WI to IL. I contacted Directv to move my service and set it up in IL. I asked the rep what would happen to my contract if the dish could not be installed at my new location. She stated that the contract would be null and void and no other charges would be incurred. They would send me a box to send back the receiver. Unfortunately, the installer was not able to install the dish.
When I contacted the reps again, a totally different person said that the contract would be voided. Through July and August I continued to receive a bill from Directv and did not receive a box to send back the receiver. At the beginning of Sept 07, I contacted Directv again and found that they did not see any notification that I had called about the issue with installation. I was told that it would be disconnected and everything taken care of.
On Sept 13, I received a bill in the mail from Directv including past due charges and a cancellation fee. In bold letters, it says pay immediately. On Sept 14 (my payday) I checked my checking account and found that Directv had debited almost $330 from my account. This caused my account to be overdrawn twice, for which I incurred $58 in overdraft fees.
I contacted Directv that same day. I talked to 2 CSRs that day. The first did not update any info on my record and disconnected me twice, so I explained the situation again to the 2nd rep. After asking to speak with a manager, I asked the manager if he pays bills. He replied yes. I then asked if almost $400 was taken from his account illegally, wouldn't he want the money back immediately. He said yes and then informed me that it would be taken care of and that the money would be returned within 24 hrs. Yeah, right.
On Sept 15, I contacted Directv again (different location) and talked to another manager. After explaining the situation AGAIN, I was notified for the 1st time that an amendment had been made to the customer agreement in April. In this agreement, there is a section that says Directv can debit a customer's account or charge their credit card to bring their Directv account up to date.
I informed the manager that I did not receive this update and that the CSRs and managers I had discussed this issue with had failed to inform me of this change. Supposedly they sent it in the mail. I informed her that I did not receive the notice. I also told her what the CSRs had said previously about the contract being null and void if the dish could not be installed. I was told that, first, it was my fault because I chose to live there, and second, that the CSRs were wrong.
This hit me hard. I stated that I have an MBA and am a buyer for my company. First, without notification of changes made to a contract, the amendment is not enforceable. Second, Directv is responsible for the training and actions of their employees. Directv is supposed to honor what their employees relay to customers. I even gave her an example: if I offered a customer a discount or accepted a higher price from a supplier that the company did not agree with, my company would still have to honor the discount or price. The manager then informed me that they understand they have some problems with their CSRs and a couple of managers and that they will be addressed.
However, policy is policy and there is nothing they can do. I told her that I am going to my bank to reverse the charges, file a complaint with the BBB, and also contact a lawyer about a class action lawsuit against them. And all this could have been avoided if they would refund my money to my account or even wire it to a Western Union.
After this discussion with Directv, I contacted my bank to reverse the charges. Unfortunately, since it was taken out as a credit card charge from my account, they would file a petition with Mastercard to have the charges reversed.
On Sept 20, 21 and 22 I again contacted Directv to resolve this issue. I ended up talking to people in NM, TN, ID, and overseas. I was told by Directv Mitigation that my case was submitted to a manager and that I could contact that person on the 22nd. They hung up before I could get a direct number to that manager. On the 22nd I could not get hold of anyone in the US to discuss this. I located the corporate headquarters phone number. I told the very last person I talked to at Directv that if I did not receive a call from the manager or someone with a solution to this issue, I would contact the corporate office and begin working my way through those offices, since I have been through so many offices in the world already.
Today is the day. They have until 4:3opm Central to call me with a solution. Even if I do get a solution, I am still contacting a lawyer about a class action lawsuit. Almost $400 is missing from my account that I need to care for 2 children (4 and 8 months), and yet no one there cares. They are rude, incompetent, and thieves. Their employees are not trained properly and not educated in the company's policies and procedures. And the company's customer service is terrible. Let's hit them with everything we have.
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